


Stay - Qrow x Reader

by livthekitten



Category: RWBY
Genre: Blood, F/M, Hospitals, car crash, intense moments?, that one charlie brown christmas song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 07:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9062536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livthekitten/pseuds/livthekitten
Summary: You and Qrow both know he's always a little drunk, but will it finally cause a problem when he's driving on icy roads?





	

Thick clumps of snowflakes descended from the sky and landed among others in heaps of snow. The city was covered in a sheet of white, excluding the sidewalks that had been shoveled and the streets that had been plowed. Trees in between the road and sidewalk were strung with different colored Christmas lights. The sky was a dark gray, indicating that it would soon be dark out. It was relatively quiet except for the occasional car driving by, sending grayish slush onto the snow beds on the sides of the road.

You watched all of this out the window of you and your husband’s apartment. Despite what many may think, the city could be quiet and pretty. Well, you didn’t know about the inner city, but where you lived -just outside the heart of the city- was enjoyable. Winter was always pretty with all the snow, even though it was always really cold.

The sound of the door unlocking made you jump, but once you saw that it was just Qrow you relaxed again. You walked over to greet him and planted a kiss on his lips. He put down his bag so that he could put his hand on your back, pulling you closer into a hug and a kiss.

“Hey,” he half-grinned.

“Hey,” you mimicked him. He then knelt down to face your pregnant belly.

“Hello to you too,” he said. That’s right, you and Qrow were pregnant with a child, and Qrow was already a cheesy dad. You rolled your eyes and pet his hair.

“How was work?” you asked.

“Whoo boy,” he stood, moving out of the doorway and further into your home. 

“Winter break made the kids...” he let out a long sigh, “...exhausting,” he finished. He was a professor at Signal Academy and even though they were in a school for fighting, they weren’t as old as those at Beacon. They were like the middle school of combat schools, and you know how middle-schoolers are.

“Yeah, I bet,” you agreed. “Well, I’ll let you have some quiet while I run out to the grocery store. Tai texted asking if I could grab some marshmallows while we’re in the city. I’ll be back in a little bit!”

You grabbed the keys to the car and headed to the local grocery store. You and Qrow were going to visit your nieces for their Christmas break, and when there are Uncle Qrow and the girls, there are snowball fights, and when there are snowball fights, it usually calls for hot chocolate to recover from the cold, and who doesn’t like marshmallows with hot chocolate?  
You grabbed a pack and paid for it before going home. As you drove you noticed that the roads were extremely icy and it was getting darker with every minute that passed. It scared you a bit, considering the Xiao-Longs lived quite a while away from the city, where there weren’t many street lights, not to mention the roads would be pretty dangerous. To calm yourself, you turned on the radio.

“And now for the weather, it is now, wow, twenty-six degrees below zero folks, with a high of negative seventeen and a low of negative forty-two. Ten minutes outside will give frostbite to unprotected skin, so stay inside or bundle up. Also, a blizzard is supposed to start at nine o'clock and won’t end until noon tomorrow, so if you’re planning on going to visit family for the holidays, I’d do that ASAP if I were you,” the radio announcer stopped talking and began playing some holiday tunes.

That was not what you were expecting to hear, but you were glad you knew about the blizzard, or else you would get stuck on the icy roads with a blizzard! You didn’t want to die this year, and definitely not with a baby on the way.  
By the time you got home, there was no light save for the streetlights illuminating the roads for the drivers. It was much later than you had expected, but the roads were so slippery that cars were struggling to drive straight.

You ran upstairs to get your bags and husband. You wanted to leave as quickly as possible, considering the blizzard coming your way. You unlocked the door to your apartment with your cold fingers and saw Qrow with everything needed set up by the door. You were honestly surprised he was ready to go. You didn’t mind, but you were surprised.

“You ready to go then?” you walked over then looked up to him.

“Yep, let’s take these down then hit the road before the blizzard,” he said, then kissed you. You tasted alcohol on him and got a bit worried.

“So you’re sober, right?” you asked. “If not, I can drive us.”

“Don’t worry, I’m completely sober. I’ll drive us,” he said and took some of the bags before going down to the car. You did the same and the two of you were on your way minutes later.

Now Qrow wasn’t really as sober as you would have hoped. Yes, he only had one drink, but that man is always a little bit drunk. To be honest, he knew, you knew, and there really was no point in lying. He probably did it to calm you down a bit, and to be honest, it worked.

As the car you were in drove further from the city, the darker and icier the roads got. You watched the snow swirl around on the road, moving like serpents. It was usually a beautiful sight, but right now it frightened you. 

It’s not that you didn’t trust Qrow, you did, but the roads were getting worse and worse. Snowflakes clumped onto your windshield faster than the windshield wipers could move them, making it even harder to see through the blizzard.

Qrow noticed how tense you were and turned on the radio. There’s nothing a little music can’t help, right? After a little bit of static Christmas music filled the silence of the car.

“...Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer. Fun for all, that children call their favorite time of year...” the radio sang, still a bit staticky but less so.

Having calmed down a little, you rested your head on the window and yawned, your warm breath fogging up the window. Whether you wanted them to or not, your eyelids began to droop and you felt as if you were going to fall asleep.  
The music kept playing, 

“Snowflakes in the air, carols everywhere, olden times and ancient rhymes of love and dreams to share...”

The children in the song kept singing, and the more the song continued, the more tired you got. You completely forgot about the danger of driving on such rural roads in this dangerous weather with a drunk driver, and only heard the sound of the Christmas song. You fell asleep in the car, letting your fears and worries blow away with the snow.

Even though you felt safer, you shouldn’t have. The eye of the storm is very misleading, and one should never turn their back on it. Snowflakes got thicker and the wind got faster, Qrow couldn’t see where he was going! He wasn’t able to see the road in front of him! His brights did nothing in this situation! Suddenly, the brakes no longer did anything!

Unable to control the car, Qrow was panicking already, but now that he saw someone else’s brights in front of them, his heart began racing. He tried the emergency brake but it was no use. The car began sliding with you and your husband inside.

People say that when emergencies happen, everything goes in slow motion, but for Qrow everything happened too quickly for him to react. The headlights in the other car grew brighter through the groups of snow. He heard the car honk, then the screeching of tires, then-

 

Silence.

 

Silence and darkness.

 

Then very slowly, sound came back. First, a loud ringing in his ears, then the howling of wind, then...sirens? He still couldn’t see anything, and couldn’t recall what happened. Qrow started regaining his senses again and could feel the cold wind nipping at his exposed skin, making his face sting. His head hurt pretty badly too. He knew something happened, but he did not know what happened or where he was.

He heard faint singing. It was barely audible, but if he really focused he could hear it. 

“Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer...”

It...it was the song from earlier. Qrow’s memories of everything flooded back as his eyes shot open.

Red light from the ambulances shined on the scene. The car of the other driver was on the road while yours was in the ditch below. It had rolled quite a bit and was only stopped by a tree in the forest next to the road. The other driver was being helped out of his car but was limping.

Qrow tried to move his head but found the roof of the car much lower than it should be. Men leapt from the ambulance and ran down to help the couple in the smashed car. He realized that he didn’t know how you were so he struggled to turn his body towards you. What he saw made his heart drop.

Your motionless body was stuck between the top of the car and the passenger seat. Blood dripped from your head and soaked through your shirt. Broken glass sat in the wrinkles of your clothes. He couldn’t see if you were breathing or not, but it was clear that the chances of you or your baby living were very slim.

Both the sight and blood loss made Qrow dizzy and he almost passed out. This couldn’t be happening. No way. He isn’t about to lose his wife and unborn child. The ringing in his ears got louder and his breathing got heavier. Finally, a man’s voice snapped him out of his daze.

“Sir! Sir, please come with us, you need medical attention,” one paramedic said. Qrow realized that there wasn’t much time and pulled his body out from the vehicle.

“I’m fine, but I need to help my wife!” he said as he started going to the other side of the car. People were already putting your lifeless figure onto a gurney so the guy talking to Qrow grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey, we’re going to help her too. Now why don’t you come with us and sit down,” the man offered, but Qrow’s focus was on you. He ran over to the gurney you were on and reached to touch your face but was only able to for a moment before people brought him away.

After a quick patch up, Qrow was fine, but you couldn’t say the same. You were currently in the ambulance with what seemed like very little time left, and if they didn’t hurry, you’d be gone before they even got to the hospital.

Once the ambulance got to the emergency room, they rushed you in with Qrow running alongside the group of doctors. What were they saying? What did it all mean? Qrow wished he knew. He could only follow the people with his wife until they brought her into a room that he couldn’t enter.

While waiting outside of the emergency room, Qrow did a lot of thinking. More than he wanted to, that’s for sure. He reached into the side of his jacket and fished for his flask, but then stopped. That’s what caused it. How could he be dumb enough to drive his pregnant wife while drunk?! All reason was tossed out of the window and all the blame was now on him. If he had been sober for once in his life, he would be safe at his family’s home for the holidays with you.

Speaking of the family, they were probably worried sick, considering you hadn’t gotten there yet. Qrow pulled out his phone and dialed Taiyang’s scroll number. He did his best to sound calmer while it was dialing, then heard his brother in law on the other side of the line.

“Hello? Qrow where are you guys?”

“We’re, well, we’re in the hospital right now.”

“...oh no...”

“The roads were pretty bad but we tried getting there anyways,” Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose while talking.

“Well, where’s (Y/n)? Is she okay?”

“S-she’s-” he sighed. “She’s why we’re at the hospital. The last time I saw her she wasn’t doing so well.”

“Oh go- I’ll be there in a minute,” Tai said.

“No, you guys stay there. We’re here because of the weather and I don’t think we need anyone else in the hospital.”

“Fine. Call back when you find out how she is.”

“Okay, bye.” Qrow hung up the scroll and sat in the waiting room for what felt like forever until a doctor showed up and called his name.

“Mr. Branwen?” she called out to the people in the room. Qrow stood and walked over to the woman and she spoke again. “Mrs. Branwen is in room B132. She’s not conscious yet and we don’t know when she will be, but she seems to be stable.”

“Thank you,” he said then walked off to your room. When he saw you laying in the hospital bed his heart sank more than before.

You didn’t move, and for a moment he thought he saw you stop breathing. Your husband pulled up a chair and sat by your side with your hand in his. You looked so peaceful laying there. You looked like you were just sleeping, though I suppose sleeping and dead look the same. Bandages wrapped around your forehead and chest and the blood from earlier had been all cleaned up.

“You know, you wouldn’t be the first time I’ve lost someone.” Qrow started, moving his thumb back and forth on your hand. “Yeah, I’ve lost quite a few people actually. Most of my family died when I was young, Summer died more recently, my twin sister is almost like a stranger to me. These are just things that happen when you’re a hunter. You, though...” he stopped for a while, then spoke again.

“I can’t lose you. It may sound cheesy, but you’re the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I’ve had you with me for so long, we’ve been married for almost a year, and we’re going to have a child. I used to be all freelancer unpredictable, but now I have a family. I can’t lose that. Please. I might not be the most...affectionate guy in the world, but please know that I care about you so much. I...” He stopped again, choking back a sob.

This silence was much longer than the last. Qrow just sat there looking at you. Now your husband was not a man who shed tears, but man his eyes did sting. Minutes later Qrow spoke up one last time.

“Man, saying goodbye is never this hard for me. I, uh, I’m gonna ask one thing of you. Please don’t go like this. Please stay,” he said, tears threatening to fall. He was feeling so many emotions now.

Now you’re probably thinking, “Oh no my poor husband Qrow! I wish I could hear him and say something back! Well, you could, and you did. Kind of. You were able to hear every word Qrow said, but since your body itself was unconscious, you were unable to speak. You also had no recollection of what happened or how you got where you were.

You wanted to speak or scream or do something to tell Qrow that you were conscious and wanted to wake up. You knew you had to soon or else they might pull the plug on you. Still, you tried for quite a long time until you were too mentally exhausted to do anything else.

Qrow had been in the same position he was in before and just watched you. The room was silent save for some Christmas music playing on the speakers. The song that was playing stopped and a new one started. It was only piano but the tune was familiar. It was on the tip of your tongue. Where did you hear this song? It was so familiar.

As the tune continued, you were able to predict the next notes. You knew the song, but what was it? You began humming it, then sang,

“Joy to all, that children call, their favorite time of year, you sang, then everything came back to you, You saw your life play from beginning to end like a silent film. You saw your childhood, realizing you wanted to become a huntress, then the highlight of your life: meeting Qrow.

You walked into a bar and sat down next to him. Qrow was drunk off his ass but was pretty sweet. After a long night of talking, the two of you exchanged numbers. Now, usually that meant he’d call once and then lose contact with you forever, but you became really close.

You have gone through so much with Qrow, and every problem has had a resolution. You watched every good time and bad time until you reached what had happened. You relived the car crash and saw everything, then where you were now. Suddenly, a small light appeared and started growing. Realizing you were moving towards the light, you panicked.  
“No, no, no! I can’t go yet! It wouldn’t be fair to anyone! I can’t leave my husband! Not yet!” You wriggled around trying to escape the light but it was no use. It had become too bright to see so you squinted at the light.

Your eyes shot open. You started looking around, but you were unable to move out of Qrow’s tight hug.

“Thank God you’re alive. You’re okay,” he whispered into your ear.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Did you miss me?” you joked.

“Oh, you don't even know," he replied and kissed whatever skin was closest to him. 

"Wow, no kidding," you said. He was being less smartass and much sweeter, which really caught you off guard. A doctor saw Qrow leaning over the bed and hugging you, so he rushed into the room.

"Sir don't- oh you're awake. I'll have the doctor in here shortly," he said and walked away.

Just like he said, a doctor was in the room moments later making sure you were healthy enough to leave. 

"Alright," said the doctor. "You somehow managed to recover in rapid time. Usually, in a crash that bad, you'd spend days in the hospital, but you're free to go. Not to mention your baby will be fine too," she squinted at the clipboard she had. "Your recovery is honestly...amazing, wow. You're free to go, have a nice Christmas."

Taiyang and his girls sat in their living room in silence, listening to the weather on the radio. It was eleven at night and still no word of what happened.They waited for a call from Qrow, but nothing came. Taiyang was getting ready to call him and ask what happened when there was a knock on the door. Ruby jumped up and opened the door. 

"They're here!" She yelled to the other room. There you and Qrow stood, grinning at the family as they came to the door. Everyone gave you both hugs, then Taiyang spoke.

"What happened?! (Y/n), Qrow said you were in the hospital! Are you allowed to be out? What happened to your head?" 

"Don't worry!" You said. "I was. Unconscious for a while, but the doctor said I recovered really quickly."

"And what about..." Tai then gestured to your belly.

"Yep, lil Branwen will be okay too," you smiled.

"Wow, that's amazing! I'm so glad you guys are okay. Come in and let's get the holidays started!" He said.

That family Christmas was one of the best. You laughed together, played a couple games, then at the end of the day everyone settled in for the night. You were warm in bed in your loving husband's arms, and you couldn't ask for it any other way.


End file.
